Contact Lens Hands

August 4, 1985|By Charlie Jean

A YOUNG SURGEON developed a mysterious rash on his left palm and right index finger, two doctors wrote in The New England Journal of Medicine. They checked his surgical gloves. They checked the soap he was using. They checked for fungus. Nothing. ''Finally,'' said Drs. Lewis P. Stolman and Earl Sands of New Jersey, ''it was determined that the physician cleaned his contact lenses by placing them in his left hand and washing them with Bausch and Lomb sterile lens cleaner with the index finger of the opposite hand.'' Bingo. Many lens cleaners contain a preservative called thimerosal, and some people are allergic to it. The ingredient is also found in disinfectants; eye, ear and nose medications; and over-the-counter dental care products. In the young surgeon's case, the doctors dubbed the problem ''contact lens hand.''